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Microsoft releases first public build of IronRuby

Microsoft has released the first public build of IronRuby: an implementation …

Earlier this year, Microsoft assured developers that it would be continuing to build languages on top of the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR). Considering that IronPython had been a success in terms of implementation, the company decided that it would make an attempt at bringing Ruby into the world of .NET. With the help of Ruby expert John Lam, today the company announced that a pre-alpha build of IronRuby is now available. You heard it right, this release is pre-alpha—many Ruby features and libraries have not yet been implemented.

Unlike interpreted code, IronRuby uses lightweight code generation to create intermediate language (IL) in memory. At runtime, dynamic compilation (JIT) is used to convert the IL into native code. The result of this process is that IronRuby can take advantage of .NET's garbage collector and it also sees improved performance when compared to interpreted code.

If you are willing to take a chance with a pre-alpha build, you should first download the .NET Framework 3.0. From there, all you need to do is download IronRuby and use the Windows SDK or Visual Studio Command Prompt to execute Ruby code. If you don't have either prompt available, then you will need to set two environment variables: FRAMEWORKDIR and FRAMEWORKVERSION. If you need any help getting started, Scott Guthrie has several samples on his blog.

In the future, Microsoft plans to offer full integration with Visual Studio as well as the ability to incorporate IronRuby into Silverlight 1.1. The Silverlight integration is Microsoft's answer to the question of whether or not IronRuby will be cross-platform.

I know I've said this before, but I will say it again: Ruby can be invaluable tool to both developers and testers, plus it's an easy language to learn. If you aren't interested in Microsoft's IronRuby implementation, Ruby 1.8.6 is available without the .NET Framework hooks.